


Adjusting and Building

by Woofemus



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/F, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-13
Updated: 2014-01-13
Packaged: 2018-01-08 14:41:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1133851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woofemus/pseuds/Woofemus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kjelle and Severa travel around together, trying to figure out what to do with their lives now that they have all the time in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adjusting and Building

**Author's Note:**

> Some references to Kjelle's and Severa's Harvest Scramble conversation.

The bandit hideout was absolutely nasty, full of grime, and above all else, it _reeked_. Severa wanted nothing more than to hurry up and leave.

"Victory is mine!"

Severa couldn't help but roll her eyes, watching as Kjelle swung her spear, striking the bandit's axe so hard it shattered. She was about to strike him dead before he flung himself back, blubbering to himself and scrambling as fast as he could before Kjelle could react. Severa only continued watching, looking at how the sweat rolled down Kjelle's face and her ferocious grin in the heat of battle. Kjelle slammed her spear against the floor, glaring at the now empty room.

"Jeez, was that the strongest they had? I could have just slapped him and won!"

"They're common bandits, Kjelle. You swear they actually have any merit to them," Severa said with a scoff.

Kjelle whirled around, pointing her spear at her. "And you! You just stood there!"

Severa narrowed her eyes. "I took out a few!"

"Only like _two_. You just stood there and looked pretty!"

"Hey, I actually _take_ the time to look pretty at least, unlike someone. And you took care of them anyway, without any help from me." Severa flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"What are you, some sort of trophy wife?" Kjelle rubbed her chin thoughtfully, looking her over with a smirk. "Well, I'm not going to complain about that then."

Severa immediately felt her cheeks heat up. "What?!" she screeched. Kjelle winced, rubbing her ear. "Is that seriously how you think of me?! I take all this time to look good for _you_ and you swear I actually like when bandits give me dirty looks and I just want to bash their faces in except you just smash them all in anyway so I don't even get that satisfaction!"

“... okay, I was kind of mad when they were looking at you like that.” Kjelle admitted. “And besides, you always look pretty anyway.”

Severa blinked at her, before she sputtered, face turning red. "Gah! Don't say that so casually! You need to set a certain mood before you say things like that! Didn't I teach you that?!” Kjelle's answer was giving her a flat look and waving a hand vaguely. “Ugh, whatever, just get rid of the rest of the bandits. I'll just be over here, behind you, distracting them with my good looks!”

Kjelle froze, staring at her in realization. She suddenly whirled around, a sudden fire to her steps as she charged deeper into the bandit hideout.

"Who's next?!"

 

* * *

 

"Thank you so much for helping us with the bandits! Here, your reward, as we promised!" The mayor held out a fat pouch of coins. Severa grinned as she took it, bowing her thanks as well. Kjelle nodded to him, along with the other villagers that had come up to thank them.

"Thank you! Now, do you have an inn or..."

"Of course! Let us give you a free night as well!"

"Oh no, we couldn't possibly accept, since you've already given us this reward! I simply meant for you to show us the way to the inn!" Severa looked appropriately appalled.

"Nonsense!” The mayor shook his head, waving his hand. “Now that we no longer have to worry about the bandits, commerce will surely flow again! I insist, on behalf of everyone!"

"Well, if you say so then..."

Kjelle tried not to roll her eyes as she followed dutifully after Severa, knowing the other girl was gleefully cackling in her head.

The first thing that happened when they were in their room was Severa plopping herself onto the bed, letting out a sigh. "Whew!" She rolled onto her side, frowning a bit. "Hm, certainly not the best I've ever had, but it's comfortable enough."

Kjelle stood at the second bed in the room, pressing her hand into the mattress. "It'll do." She began to dismantle her armor, carefully putting all the intricate pieces down reverently next to her bed. When she finished, she looked up to find Severa laying on her stomach, kicking her feet in the air as she stared intently at her. "What?"

"Nothing." Severa's cheeks reddened and she put her head down within her arms to hide them.

"You could just tell me you like watching me take off my armor, you know. I don't mind."

"I _don't._ " Severa snapped, her voice muffled, although she didn't have any of her usual heat as she usually did. Kjelle had finally learned that there were just some things Severa had to say whether she meant it or not.

"Whatever you say," Kjelle said with a roll of her eyes, going over to her pack and pulling out a book. She laid on the bed and opened its pages. Several minutes went by before Severa finally looked up, a confused look on her face.

“You're not gonna train today?”

Kjelle shrugged, arching an eyebrow. “I don't _always_ train all the time you know. I have other things I like to do.”

“Uh huh...” Severa said incredulously. She stood up from where she was and sidled up next to Kjelle, looking at her suspiciously. “Something wrong?” She poked her in the side.

“Nothing!” Kjelle swatted Severa's hand away, annoyed. Severa sneered before she moved closer, trying to look at the book.

“What are you even reading anyway?”

“A book Nah gave me. Never got around to it. She told me it was one of her favorites and that I would like it so why not. I think it's about twins trying to save their kingdom or something... and a dragon. Dragons. Undead dragons? Something.”

“You think?” Severa gave her a flat look.

“I never said I was that far into it.”

“And undead dragons? Can't things stay dead for once?” Severa muttered, letting herself fall onto Kjelle's shoulder, ignoring the grunt from the other girl. “I'm taking a nap. Wake me up for dinner.” She made herself comfortable and even despite Kjelle's grumbles, Severa soon felt a hand running softly through her hair and she closed her eyes.

 

* * *

 

They left the inn the next day, continuing on their destination-less journey as they followed the path. It took them to a forest, where the two of them now stood, waiting silently. Severa finally sighed, tapping Kjelle in warning before she unsheathed her sword. As if on cue, bandits literally appeared in front of them, popping out of the foliage, leering at them.

One of them walked forward, bowing mockingly to them. “I should thank you for taking care of the bandit group yesterday! Now we'll have no competition for our territory 'round here!” He said, grinning at them.

“Ugh, don't you ever learn your lesson?” Severa muttered, shaking her head.

“Hey! Is that any way to talk to us? We've got much more people than you _two._ ”

“It was only the two of us who took out the other bandits.” Kjelle pointed out, slamming her spear down.

“That group was _weak!_ The only reason they got so powerful were because they had so many people! But now, we're the ones in charge!” Kjelle blinked, trying to figure out his logic before she finally gave up.

“You think we're going to let you walk away from here?” Kjelle slammed her spear again before she pointed it at all of them. “Come! I'll take you all on!”

Much later, the bandits were gone, carrying their bruised and battered leader away, scrambling for their lives as they ran as fast as they could away from the duo. Broken weapons were littered around them. Severa rolled her shoulders, groaning as she heard it crack. “That was ridiculous. Seriously, who the heck throws their shield instead of their axe?”

“If he threw his axe, you wouldn't even be able to stand there,” Kjelle said, looking at her incredulously.

“It was the thought!” Severa sniffed. Kjelle only sighed before she spotted something on the ground.

“Huh? What's this?” Kjelle bent down to pick up something. When Severa turned to look at her, she saw Kjelle holding a vial with a very familiar liquid inside, the strange purple colored water swishing as she shook it around. “I wonder if this is – hey! What was that for?!”

Severa had swiped the bottle out of the other girl's hands, keeping it out of reach. “ _No._ The gods kill me, I am never letting you drink anything you find on the floor ever again.”

 

* * *

 

Risen attacks had become much more scarce, but that didn't mean they still didn't happen from time to time.

“Behind you!” Severa instinctively ducked as soon as Kjelle shouted, and the Risen's axe easily went over her head. She swept around, kicking its feet out from under it before she brought her sword up, letting it land on her sword, listening to the sickening squelch before it finally stopped moving. She quickly kicked it off and scanned for Kjelle, narrowing her eyes as she did so. She took off in a sprint.

Kjelle swung her spear out, striking the half circle of enemies enclosing around her. Two of them went down, cut in half at the waist, but the rest, three of them, charged at her. She speared one as it ran toward her and brought up her shield to block the others.

“Say goodnight!” Severa leaped, bringing her sword down as she slashed down the back of one of the Risen. Before it could recover, she spun around, swinging her sword and slicing through the Risen cleanly. The last Risen turned around, about to leap on her when Kjelle swung her shield out, bashing the Risen and knocking it to the ground. Severa immediately stabbed into the monster, holding it down with her foot as it thrashed weakly before disappearing.

“That should be the last of them,” Kjelle said as she watched the Risen on her spear disappear.

“They're so much easier to deal with when we're not being chased by them,” Severa muttered, wiping her sword down. She stuck her tongue out in disgust as she cleaned her sword.

“They look like they're losing a lot of their power now that Grima isn't alive anymore.” Kjelle said, bending down to look at the corpses warily. “I don't remember them being so easy to cut.”

“Who are you to complain? If they finally lay down and die like they were supposed to in the first place, good for me!”

“I'm not complaining. It's just... strange. We've spent our entire lives fighting them. Instead of them hunting us now, we're the ones hunting them. Hah! How the tables have turned!”

 

* * *

 

Severa jolted awake, breathing heavily. Acting on deeply ingrained reflexes and instincts, she was already sitting up, reaching for her sword in the dark before she finally remembered where she was.

“Another one?” Kjelle was next to her then, laying a hand on her arm, a gesture of comfort. Severa focused on the warmth emanating from it, shivering even though the air was warm. She forced herself to remember that it was _done_ and that it was only Kjelle and her now.

But the thought only made her think dark things. If there was one thing Severa really hated, it was that Kjelle didn't seem to be plagued by the same nightmares that she had. Kjelle rarely woke up in a cold sweat, dreaming of bad memories. There were times where she'd lie awake though, staring thoughtfully at either the sky or ceiling, no doubt recalling happier times with her own family. Severa's last memory of her true mother was chastising her and accusing her of things that Severa wished she could take back, the guilt eating at her even worse now that she met the Cordelia here.

Severa didn't want to admit it, but she was envious of Kjelle. Sully's legacy only made Kjelle strive to live up to it, but Severa wanted no part in being Cordelia's shadow. She only wanted...

“Severa!” She blinked, realizing Kjelle had called her name several times. “You... fine?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Severa shook her head, turning her gaze to the moon. “Hey, I thought you were supposed to wake me up!”

Kjelle shrugged. “I can handle another night. Go to sleep.”

“No way! You took the night watch yesterday too!”

“Severa, trying to get out of her beauty sleep?” Kjelle taunted. Even if it was dark and she couldn't see it, Severa _knew_ Kjelle had a smug smile on her face.

“Gods! You're so annoying,” Severa settled for muttering instead, laying back down, too tired and rattled to continue, despite knowing she was doing exactly what Kjelle wanted her to do. “Five minutes! And then I'm getting up and it'll be your turn to sleep on this nasty, uncomfortable ground.”

Kjelle only chuckled before she laid her own blanket over Severa, the other girl's breath already evening out.

 

* * *

 

Maybe this was a _little_ unsafe, Kjelle thought as she sat precariously on a wooden beam, almost falling off for what had to be the fifth time. She pounded the nails with less gusto than she had before, careful to keep herself on the beam.

“Are we _seriously_ doing this?” a voice called up. She looked down from where she was to find Severa on the ground, carefully balancing the pieces of lumber in her arms.

“Why. Not?” Kjelle punctuated her words with a heavy pound of the hammer she held in her hands. “A lot of people lost their homes to Risen and the wars.”

“That doesn't mean _we_ have to build them!”

“Are you trying to get out of work?”

“No I'm not – ugh!” For some reason, Severa stopped instead of arguing, scowling at her before she walked away to deliver the lumber to the other workers. Kjelle felt bad for accusing her of something like that, even in jest, but now wasn't the time to deal with it, not when they still had work to do.

When they finally stopped working, mostly because they had run out of sunlight, they retired to the temporary residence the village had given them in exchange for their help. It was a tiny shack, with only one room that had their cots along with a short table, and thankfully a small kitchen. Severa still hadn't said anything to Kjelle resembling simple conversation.

As Kjelle polished her armor, she looked up from where she sat to eye where Severa was standing in the cramped kitchen, stirring the stew she was making for dinner. Severa looked normal enough, her expression always stern even if she wasn't trying to be. Kjelle continued to polish her armor until finally, even she had to admit it looked absolutely too clean and shiny for her to wipe anymore, and she carefully set it down in the corner of the room. Taking a deep breath and steeling herself, she walked next to the other girl, peering inside the pot of stew.

“... it looks and smells good,” she began.

Severa only glanced at her before making a noncommittal sound. She tried not to sigh.

“Severa, are you mad about something?” She decided to ask bluntly, knowing the only way she could get anything out of her was to keep prodding. And if she had to be honest, the entire house felt too awkward for Kjelle to stay silent any longer anyway. An angry, snapping Severa was better than an angry, brooding one. Sometimes. “ _Severa._ ”

“What?!” The other girl snapped. Kjelle was unfazed, leaning against the counter, as she continued to stare at her. “Okay fine! Ugh.” She jabbed a finger in her direction. “Don't you feel _weird?_ ”

Kjelle blinked, glancing down at herself. “Er? Did I drink another strange thing this time?”

“Gods, that is still the stupidest thing you've ever done,” Severa immediately muttered, “I don't even know why you even drank that – wait, no, that's not what I meant!” She shook her head, scowling at herself. “I mean, building that house. Don't you feel... weird for doing it?”

Kjelle frowned, narrowing her eyes. “Was I supposed to?”

“Yes? No? Oh, I don't even know.” Severa sighed. “It just... felt really weird to me.” Kjelle didn't say anything, partly because Severa looked uncomfortable, shifting from one foot to another. “I mean, it isn't as if I didn't want to help build but... we always wanted peace, and now we have it! But it's sorta... what do _we_ do _now?_ ” Severa adamantly kept her gaze on her pot as she continued speaking, hating how she sounded so... lost and helpless.

“We spent most of our lives trying to survive, and then we come back to the past, and yeah, we saw our parents and all, but we were still thrown into more fighting. Fighting's just about everything's we've known. And then look at us now! Building houses! It's something... Lucina would do.”

“She did go around fixing our tents a lot,” Kjelle agreed, looking thoughtful. “Well, that's one good use for my hammer, building houses instead of breaking armor.” Severa shot a sour look to her before she sighed.

“I don't know, are we going to build houses? Do we keep doing mercenary work? Should we keep traveling? Should we explore the rest of the world?! I don't even know!” Severa threw her hand up in exasperation.

“Let's do all of that. We'll travel around, killing bandits and Risen, and find a nice spot to build a house.” Kjelle answered dryly before a gleam came to her eyes. “Wait... I could take up carpentry... that'd be something new for me to learn. Carpentry... and architecture! I can build our house!" Kjelle grew excited, the prospect of learning something new invigorating her as she continued. "It'll be like making armor, except a house! I could make –”

Severa grabbed a spoon on the counter and smacked Kjelle. “You're probably going to just end up building a huge piece of armor and calling that a house!” she said with a huff. “And besides," she continued, "you wouldn't be able to build a house fit for someone like me.” She tried to glare but she ended up cracking a smile at the end. Kjelle smiled back, realizing how silly she sounded. Before she could say anything though, Severa tapped the pot. “Dinner's done! Let's eat. All that working made me hungry.”

It was like before their conversation, the two of them sitting in silence but it was much more lax and comfortable this time, not awkward and tense as Kjelle felt. She dug into her food, relishing how delicious it was and made a note to ask the other girl to give her lessons on how to cook better. Severa finished first, putting her bowl down at the table.

“You know, it's been a while since we've visited our parents.” Severa tried to say neutrally, but her voice was soft and quiet. Kjelle blinked at her, before returning to her meal.

“It'll take about two weeks of traveling to get to Ylisstol,” she answered. Severa only sighed, half smiling and half smirking.

 

* * *

 

"Whoa! You're gonna fall off if you don't hold on tight enough!" Kjelle scolded, looking at her significantly younger self. Her younger version only frowned, as if not liking being told what to do before she gripped tighter. Kjelle only grimaced, watching her much younger self hang off her arm as if she was a monkey. "Was I always like this?"

"If you drop her, you're gonna end up killing yourself too you know?" Sully stuck her head out of the doorway, a frown on her face.

"I don't mind being the only Kjelle again." Kjelle said in a flat tone. Although too flatly though, because Sully gave her a disapproving look and she quickly amended her words. "I was kidding. The world can handle another Kjelle." She moved her arm to in front of her so if her younger self fell, it would be in her lap. "You're gonna grow up strong and beat up all the boys, just like Mom and me, alright? No slacking off!"

Sully guffawed, slapping her leg. “She's only gotta grow up first, you know!”

Kjelle leaned closer, trying not to let Sully hear her next words. “Also, learn how to cook from _Dad_ , not Mom.”

“ _I heard that._ ”

 

* * *

 

“Is that how I look when I'm a few years old? I'm so... cute.” Severa whispered in a horrified voice as she stood in the doorway. Her younger self froze from where she was and immediately ran to where Cordelia stood, her tiny pigtails bouncing behind her.

“You're always cute.” Cordelia said softly.

“... who is that?” Little Severa finally asked in a quiet voice.

“Your aunt.” Severa automatically answered, bending down to look at herself. Gods, that sounded so weird, but Severa found she was doing a lot of weird things lately anyway. “Your good looking aunt of whom you've inherited her good looks from. You'll look even better than your mom!” Severa said, winking at her.

“Nuh-uh.” Little Severa shook her head. “Mom's the prettiest. I'm gonna be as pretty as _her._ ”

“... lame.” Big Severa stuck her tongue out, with Little Severa following suit. Cordelia shook her head but she couldn't fight the grin as she looked at the two of them.

 

* * *

 

“Don't you ever think about what would have happened if we stayed in our world?” Severa asked, when they were about half a day away from Ylisstol.

“Sometimes.” Kjelle said. “But when we look at _this_ world and see how much happier everyone is, it makes me glad that we all decided to go back in time even if we're not meant to be here. It was well worth our efforts, to prevent a tragedy like that.”

“But it's not _our_ world we made better,” Severa said softly. "Not _our_ parents we saved."

“It was a good idea at the time, but now... nothing we can do except to just live here, you know?" Kjelle glanced at her. "Did you... want to go back to our world?”

“I don't think there's even anything to go back to, at this point,” Severa answered. Then she paused. “Wait, if we've killed Grima in the past here, what does that mean for our world? Is he still there, or did we change and if we go back we're going to find ourselves completely different – ”

Kjelle grabbed her, shaking her roughly. “Stop! Enough thinking about that. You're making my mind go crazy too. We can find Laurent and ask him.”

“... good plan,” Severa agreed. “So... what now?”

Kjelle shrugged before she pointed in a random direction. “Let's just pick somewhere and go. We have all the time in the world to figure everything out." For some reason, she was smiling, pleased about something. "Before we left, I bought some new books on architecture!” Severa snapped her eyes at her, alarmed.

“Oh gods, you were actually serious about building a house.”


End file.
